Is there anything similar to Marek's?

[RoostersAreAwesome]

This article lists several other ailments that present similarly to Marek’s https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/.

If there’s any chance of Marek’s in your flock, please do not sell or give away any birds until you’ve confirmed with an accurate test that they don’t have Marek’s. A single carrier can have devastating consequences and cause a lot of heartache for someone, especially if they view their birds as pets. I know this from personal experience.

Chickens can recover from the symptoms of Marek’s (like getting partially paralyzed and then getting “better”) but that does not mean they’re cured of the virus. Usually ones who show symptoms and “recover” from it will die later on, like your hen. Whether your flock will go a year without symptoms (if they do have Marek’s) depends on the particular strain and the vaccination status and size of the flock.

 

[Sussex19]

Thanks @RoostersAreAwesome I couldn't actually see where it listed the other ailments?(edited to add, I've found it now, I don't know how I missed it!)
But a very interesting article.
And we aren't selling or giving away any chickens until we know that(hopefully) it isn't.
Interestingly it mentioned both Sussex and Orpington in the list of vulnerable breeds, which are what all ours are, except the two RIRs.

 

[Sussex19]

If there’s any chance of Marek’s in your flock, please do not sell or give away any birds until you’ve confirmed with an accurate test that they don’t have Marek’s.

I was also wondering, if one culled a cockerel that was going to be meat and send it off for testing, would it show a positive if the flock is infected but resistant?
Or do they have to be actually sick when they die?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I was also wondering, if one culled a cockerel that was going to be meat and send it off for testing, would it show a positive if the flock is infected but resistant?
Or do they have to be actually sick when they die?

I’m not sure. But, unfortunately, I highly doubt that your entire flock is resistant. To get resistance takes years of breeding (though there are certain breeds that already have the genetics for resistance). If you are testing one of the cockerels that showed potential symptoms and recovered, then I believe you would get an accurate test.

 

[Sussex19]

I’m not sure. But, unfortunately, I highly doubt that your entire flock is resistant. To get resistance takes years of breeding (though there are certain breeds that already have the genetics for resistance). If you are testing one of the cockerels that showed potential symptoms and recovered, then I believe you would get an accurate test.

Well, we could send one of those one off, I'll do a bit of research in to where they do it.
And I didn't think that they would have got resistant since we had them but maybe we bought resistant stock?
None of them are vaccinated as far as I know, and came from several different people; we just bought them off gumtree, something I'm thinking of being more careful with in the future!
So thats why I'm still hoping it's something else, as you would have thought that we would have lost more.

 

[Sussex19]

@RoostersAreAwesome the only place I could find that mentioned any form of testing in our state was this one, https://www.gribblesvets.com.au/vet...ar/marek-s-disease-in-non-commercial-poultry/ does this look any use?
We will probably chat to our vet about it as well.
Something I'm really struggling with is the idea of sending off one of our birds, I don't know why, as I don't have any problem with killing chickens so we can eat them, but the idea of them being tested and then being disposed of is really off putting to me.
I was wondering if one could just wait it out, and if we never get any more that shows signs of it, could one presume that it was just something they ate or something?
Sorry for all the questions, I'm really struggling with it, any suggestions welcome.
(and just to clarify, we're definitely not selling or giving away any of them in the moment)

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

@RoostersAreAwesome the only place I could find that mentioned any form of testing in our state was this one, https://www.gribblesvets.com.au/vet...ar/marek-s-disease-in-non-commercial-poultry/ does this look any use?
We will probably chat to our vet about it as well.
Something I'm really struggling with is the idea of sending off one of our birds, I don't know why, as I don't have any problem with killing chickens so we can eat them, but the idea of them being tested and then being disposed of is really off putting to me.
I was wondering if one could just wait it out, and if we never get any more that shows signs of it, could one presume that it was just something they ate or something?
Sorry for all the questions, I'm really struggling with it, any suggestions welcome.
(and just to clarify, we're definitely not selling or giving away any of them in the moment)

I believe the blood/feather test is accurate. That’s understandable that you don’t want the body to go to waste.

If you’re going to wait and see, I would keep at least one of the cockerels that showed potential symptoms to see if he goes downhill like the hen did. Watch your flock for for sudden, symptomless deaths and signs of lowered immune systems. Also, keep in mind that there are other, less deadly viruses and such that can look similar to Marek’s. Something like botulism is certainly a possibility for the symptoms you described.

 

[Sussex19]

believe the blood/feather test is accurate. That’s understandable that you don’t want the body to go to waste.

If you’re going to wait and see, I would keep at least one of the cockerels that showed potential symptoms to see if he goes downhill like the hen did. Watch your flock for for sudden, symptomless deaths and signs of lowered immune systems. Also, keep in mind that there are other, less deadly viruses and such that can look similar to Marek’s. Something like botulism is certainly a possibility for the symptoms you described.

Thanks for all the help!
I think we'll just think about it a bit longer, and keep researching it for now.
It's a good idea to keep one of the cockerels, and see what happens there and then we can always get it tested later.
Do you think there's a time frame where one can be confident that it isn't, (as in a couple of years or something) or does one really need to get the flock tested before selling birds again?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Thanks for all the help!
I think we'll just think about it a bit longer, and keep researching it for now.
It's a good idea to keep one of the cockerels, and see what happens there and then we can always get it tested later.
Do you think there's a time frame where one can be confident that it isn't, (as in a couple of years or something) or does one really need to get the flock tested before selling birds again?

I’m not sure. How large is your flock? If they do carry Marek’s, it’s more likely to show up again if you have more birds rather than less.

 

[Sussex19]

I’m not sure. How large is your flock? If they do carry Marek’s, it’s more likely to show up again if you have more birds rather than less.

In the moment there's 2 roosters, 11 hens and pullets, and 10 cockerels, some about to be culled and others still quite young.(which are kept separately but they're all in the same area)
We'll probably be hatching some more in the spring so that would be quite a good time for it to show up.